The cover illustration is a painting of San Antonio’s San Francisco de la Espada by Theodore Gentilz (1819–1906) from the collection of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library (DRTL). Gentilz was born and educated in Paris, a graduate of the National School of Mathematics and Drawing. He arrived in Texas in 1844 and was one of the founders of Castroville, west of San Antonio. By 1850, he had moved into San Antonio, and, in the 1860s, began teaching art at St. Mary’s School, where he remained for 30 years. Gentilz is best known for his small, meticulous paintings of life and customs in the local Mexican community and for his detailed studies of the San Antonio missions.